Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters. The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts,[1][2][3] sugar, salt and water thickened with corn starch. Bear in mind that original oyster sauce reduced the unrefined sugar through heating, resulting in a naturally thick sauce due to caramelization, not the addition of corn starch. Today, some commercial versions are darkened with caramel, though high-quality oyster sauce is naturally dark.[4] It is commonly used in Chinese, Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, and Khmer cuisine.
Oyster sauce production began in China no later than the mid-1870s. Oysters were boiled in three iron basins for half an hour then removed for drying on rattan either by sun or over a moderate fire. The water from the basins was reduced in a fourth basin to "a blackish sauce". Sea-water, salt and/or soy could be added.[5]
Today, most oyster sauce is produced commercially on automated production lines. Many shortcuts have been made to create a similar flavor more quickly and at reduced cost. Oyster sauces today are usually made with a base of sugar and salt and thickened with corn starch. Oyster extracts or essences are then used to give flavor to the base sauce. Other ingredients, such as soy sauce and monosodium glutamate, may also be added to deepen the flavor and add color. The quality of the oyster sauce will greatly affect the flavor.
Oyster sauce adds a savory flavor to many meat and vegetable dishes. The sauce is a staple for much Chinese family-style cooking. It is commonly used in noodle stir-fries, such as chow mein. It is also found in popular Chinese-American dishes such as beef with stir-fried vegetables. Oyster sauce can also be used as a topping for some dishes.
Since its early stage of development, oyster sauce has been widely popular with Cantonese chefs as a traditional umami rich condiment.
While oyster sauce and fish sauce are both briny and may have related histories, they are different products. Fish sauce is watery, clear, and salty, whereas oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster extracts and therefore sweeter with a hint of salt and not as strong an aroma as fish sauce.[6]
"True" oyster sauce of good quality should be made by condensing oyster extracts, the white broth produced by boiling oysters in water. This opaque broth, similar to the color of clam juice found in supermarkets, is then reduced until a desired viscosity has been reached and the liquid has caramelized to a brown color.[7] No other additives, not even salt, should be added to the sauce, since the oysters should provide all the savory flavor. However, this method is prohibitively expensive.
Many modern oyster sauces are thickened with cornstarch, flavored with oyster essence or extract[2][8] and darkened with caramel.[4]
Vegetarian oyster sauce
Vegetarian oyster sauce prepared from mushrooms, often oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, is also popular and generally lower in price. It may contain more taste enhancers if less mushroom extract is used to reduce costs.
Non-MSG oyster sauce
Most of the oyster sauces available on the market contain added monosodium glutamate (MSG). In recent years MSG-free varieties can also be found.[9]
European oyster sauce
In 19th century French and English cooking, "oyster sauce" referred to a variant of sauce blanche flavored with oysters, using a base of milk and melted butter rather than purely reducing the oysters by cooking.[10][11] The white sauce version was moistened with cream, whereas in brown oyster sauce, the cream was replaced with gravy.[12] Common recipes using the sauce included "Steak and oyster sauce", documented as early as 1806,[13][14][15][16] and "Cod and oyster sauce".[17] This sauce was still being eaten in Australia in the 1970s.
Health
In 2001, the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency found in tests of various oyster sauces and soy sauces that 22% of samples contained a chemical called 3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol) at levels considerably higher than those deemed safe by the European Union. About two thirds of these samples also contained a second chemical, called 1,3-DCP (1,3-dichloropropanol), which experts advise should not be present at any levels in food. Both chemicals have the potential to cause cancer, and the Agency recommended that the affected products be withdrawn from shelves and avoided.[18][19]
The joint Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) said it had taken emergency action to amend its food standards code to set a limit for 3-MCPD in soy sauce of 0.02 milligrams per kilogram, in line with European Commission standards that came into force in the EU in April 2002.
oyster, sauce, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, relies, excessively, references, primary, sources, please, improve, this, article, adding,. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Oyster sauce news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message The neutrality of this article is disputed Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met July 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts 1 2 3 sugar salt and water thickened with corn starch Bear in mind that original oyster sauce reduced the unrefined sugar through heating resulting in a naturally thick sauce due to caramelization not the addition of corn starch Today some commercial versions are darkened with caramel though high quality oyster sauce is naturally dark 4 It is commonly used in Chinese Thai Malay Vietnamese and Khmer cuisine Oyster sauceChinese nameTraditional Chinese蠔油Simplified Chinese蚝油Literal meaningoyster oil liquidTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu Pinyinhao youYue CantoneseYale Romanizationhouh yauhJyutpinghou4 jau4Alternative Chinese nameTraditional Chinese蚵油TranscriptionsSouthern MinHokkien POJo iuVietnamese nameVietnamese alphabetdầu hao dầu hauHan Nom油蠔Thai nameThaisxshxynangrmRTGSsot hoi nang romMalay nameMalaysos tiramIndonesian nameIndonesiansaus tiramKhmer nameKhmerទ កប រ ងខ យង tɨk preeng khyɑɑng Contents 1 Production 2 Culinary use 3 Difference from fish sauce 4 Varieties 4 1 Vegetarian oyster sauce 4 2 Non MSG oyster sauce 5 European oyster sauce 6 Health 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksProduction EditOyster sauce production began in China no later than the mid 1870s Oysters were boiled in three iron basins for half an hour then removed for drying on rattan either by sun or over a moderate fire The water from the basins was reduced in a fourth basin to a blackish sauce Sea water salt and or soy could be added 5 Today most oyster sauce is produced commercially on automated production lines Many shortcuts have been made to create a similar flavor more quickly and at reduced cost Oyster sauces today are usually made with a base of sugar and salt and thickened with corn starch Oyster extracts or essences are then used to give flavor to the base sauce Other ingredients such as soy sauce and monosodium glutamate may also be added to deepen the flavor and add color The quality of the oyster sauce will greatly affect the flavor Culinary use EditFurther information Thai cuisine Hmong cuisine Cambodian cuisine Cantonese cuisine Cuisine of Hong Kong and American Chinese cuisine Oyster sauce adds a savory flavor to many meat and vegetable dishes The sauce is a staple for much Chinese family style cooking It is commonly used in noodle stir fries such as chow mein It is also found in popular Chinese American dishes such as beef with stir fried vegetables Oyster sauce can also be used as a topping for some dishes Since its early stage of development oyster sauce has been widely popular with Cantonese chefs as a traditional umami rich condiment Applications are no longer restricted to Cantonese cuisine Be it the well balanced Shandong cuisine the spicy hot Sichuanese cuisine or the seafood and red stewing dominated Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine oyster sauce enhances flavor It brings out the umami flavor Dishes that may use oyster sauce include Crab in oyster sauce Kai lan Buddha s delight Hainanese chicken rice Cashew chicken Lo mein Cha siu baau Har gow Kai yat sai Wonton noodles and Daikon cake Difference from fish sauce EditWhile oyster sauce and fish sauce are both briny and may have related histories they are different products Fish sauce is watery clear and salty whereas oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster extracts and therefore sweeter with a hint of salt and not as strong an aroma as fish sauce 6 Varieties Edit Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian oyster sauce True oyster sauce of good quality should be made by condensing oyster extracts the white broth produced by boiling oysters in water This opaque broth similar to the color of clam juice found in supermarkets is then reduced until a desired viscosity has been reached and the liquid has caramelized to a brown color 7 No other additives not even salt should be added to the sauce since the oysters should provide all the savory flavor However this method is prohibitively expensive Many modern oyster sauces are thickened with cornstarch flavored with oyster essence or extract 2 8 and darkened with caramel 4 Vegetarian oyster sauce Edit Vegetarian oyster sauce prepared from mushrooms often oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms is also popular and generally lower in price It may contain more taste enhancers if less mushroom extract is used to reduce costs Non MSG oyster sauce Edit Most of the oyster sauces available on the market contain added monosodium glutamate MSG In recent years MSG free varieties can also be found 9 European oyster sauce EditIn 19th century French and English cooking oyster sauce referred to a variant of sauce blanche flavored with oysters using a base of milk and melted butter rather than purely reducing the oysters by cooking 10 11 The white sauce version was moistened with cream whereas in brown oyster sauce the cream was replaced with gravy 12 Common recipes using the sauce included Steak and oyster sauce documented as early as 1806 13 14 15 16 and Cod and oyster sauce 17 This sauce was still being eaten in Australia in the 1970s Health EditIn 2001 the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency found in tests of various oyster sauces and soy sauces that 22 of samples contained a chemical called 3 MCPD 3 monochloropropane 1 2 diol at levels considerably higher than those deemed safe by the European Union About two thirds of these samples also contained a second chemical called 1 3 DCP 1 3 dichloropropanol which experts advise should not be present at any levels in food Both chemicals have the potential to cause cancer and the Agency recommended that the affected products be withdrawn from shelves and avoided 18 19 The joint Australia New Zealand Food Authority ANZFA said it had taken emergency action to amend its food standards code to set a limit for 3 MCPD in soy sauce of 0 02 milligrams per kilogram in line with European Commission standards that came into force in the EU in April 2002 See also Edit Food portalDuck sauce Fish sauce Hoisin sauce List of Chinese sauces List of sauces Meat glaze Plum sauceReferences Edit Wing Yip Oyster Sauce Ingredient List 1 3 oyster essence a b The Times 22 January 1981 Cook Accidentally on purpose BBC co uk Essence or extract a b BigOven Food DictionaryOyster sauce de Thersant Dabry 1876 Ostriculture in China The China Review Guo jia tu shu guan chu ban she 40 41 Retrieved 4 January 2022 How to Use Fish Sauce The Spruce Eats Retrieved 20 May 2021 LKK Oyster Sauce Story home lkk com Archived from the original on 16 October 2006 Retrieved 15 January 2022 Essence or extract Archived from the original on 11 March 2010 bbc co uk Mrs Beeton s Household Management recipe 492 Oyster Sauce p 224 1861 Ude Louis Eustache The French Cook p 293 Publisher Carey Lea amp Carey 1829 Charles Elme Francatelli The modern cook T B Peterson and Brothers 1846 The Ipswich Journal 4 January 1806 Friday s Post The Times 17 August 1815 Mendicity The Times 30 March 1831 Police The Times 22 October 1835 On Monday afternoon Fashions for August Liverpool Mercury 9 August 1833 Food gov uk press release soysauce Chart with five mentions of affected oyster sauces Archived from the original on 5 August 2009 External links Edit Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oyster sauce amp oldid 1148045581, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
